Larry A. Smail's Blog

Ralph Wright was my uncle. He married my dad’s sister, Cleo Smail.  Prior to  his passing, he was an active and healthy man. His passing surprised everyone although he was 97 years old. This man was always eager to laugh, quite a pleasant man to be around.

Uncle Ralph had a story which few may have known. Soldiers, often keep the horrors they witnessed inside.  He was captured in Italy during World War Two. He spent 18 months in a German prison camp. His liberation as I remember the story was not with the return of an allied troops. The war was all but over in 1945. Of course, my uncle, probably, didn’t know that. Rumors may have been circulating. The German soldiers ordered them all outside of the prison camp and began marching them down the road.  I am sure great fears were felt by he and his fellow soldiers.  As the march continued, my uncle realized that the soldiers were becoming fewer and fewer. They were easing back!  Eventually, they all knew something was dramatically happening here. THEY WERE FREE!  Starving soldiers began to search frantically for any food they could find. As my memory serves me, I believe that some died from eating too much.

What a great story of courage of men under terrible conditions. I thank the Lord that my uncle was one of the soldiers to have survived. The world would have been a much lesser place without his laugh and friendliness towards all. REST DEAR UNCLE!